Shy Butterfly

In September 1969, a fumbling, cranky old church deacon known as Sportcoat shuffles into the courtyard of the Cause Houses housing project in south Brooklyn, pulls a .38 from his pocket, and, in front of everybody, shoots the project's drug dealer at point-blank range. The reasons for this desperate burst of violence and the consequences that spring from it lie at the heart of Deacon King Kong, James McBride's funny, moving novel and his first since his National Book Award-winning The Good Lord Bird.

A science experiment turned dangerous. A secret life is later revealed, a life of immortality. Anton is a handsome immortal, driven by blood thirst, created from poverty, and loneliness in the late 1970’s. After living many years in isolation, Anton has a grand revelation. He decides his lonely, miserable life has lasted far too long. Overwhelmed with depression, he’s ready to end it all. Planning his demise, he puts together a bucket list, and once the list has been completed, he plans to call it quits. What he never expected is that while he's busy trying to end his life, he’d find ...

When she entered school at a recently integrated college in North Carolina, Adirah Messa was looking forward to a bright future. Then she met a man of another kind who turned her world upside down. After being turned into a blood-sucking being and then giving birth to a child fathered by the King of Vampires, Adirah thinks that life can't get any stranger. But when her ancient past becomes a part of the present, she learns that her son has a destiny that is out of her control. The only way to protect him is for old enemies to put their differences behind them....